Twisting machines



' Filed May 20, 1958 April 25., 1961 w. DEWHIRST 2,981,050

TWISTING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 I 24 i 0 45 w a p 25, 1951 w. DEWHIRST 2,981,050

TWISTING MACHINES Filed May 20, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States TWISTING MACHINES Filed May 20, 1958, Ser. No. 736,608

8 Claims. or. 57-75 The present invention relates to twisting machines for strand materials, and more particularly to a twisting machine embodying a ring type of take-up and having a compressor or forming die to provide uniform roundness, and precise and tight tubing of a twisted strand.

A ring twister has been used for many years to twist a plurality of strands together because of its relatively high twisting speeds. Prior to the present invention, it was impossible to employ a ring twister as a precision twister because the character of the ring type of take-up produces a certain degree of non-uniformity in twist resulting from the variable speed differential between the traveler and the pick-up bobbin, and the inability to employ a solid or split compressor to insure roundness. The non-uniformity of twist is not a serious detriment in, many constructions since a satisfactory degree of uniformity is attained. However, the inability of the standard ring twister to employ a solid or split compressor to insure roundness of the finished twisted product is a substantial drawback in many strand constructions. The inability results from the physical impossibility of putting suificient tension on the material being twisted. The character of the ring type of take-up necessitates that the yarn be fed positively to the traveler which obviates the possibility of mounting a compressor between the final feed rolls and the traveler.

In the prior art, when it was necessary to employ a compressor or forming die to insure roundness of the finished twisted product, a tubing twister was employed at the sacrifice of high-speed and trouble-free operation, which cannot be obtained because of the necessity for synchronization of the peripheral speed of the take-up spool and the delivery speed.

With the foregoing in mind, the present invention provides apparatus combining the desirable properties of a ring twister with the desirable properties of a tubing twister to produce a twisted strand of uniform roundness and satisfactory twist uniformity.

More specifically the present invention provides a twisting machine having a ring type of take-up, a compressor or forming die for the twisted strand, and a false-twist device in the form of a flyer assembly intermediate the compressor or forming die and the ring takeup, said device including means to positively feed the twisted strand to the traveler of the ring take-up.

The apparatus of the present invention also provides means for applying tension to the finished twisted material to allow it to be tubed tightly, and also, if required, to stretch the material to insure'higher tensile qualities.

The invention also provides means for inserting fore turn or back turn in the finished product, as desired, to produce a hard or soft finished product in accordance with the desired end use.

'All of the objects of the invention are fully set forth, and the details of the construction and operation of a preferred embodiment of the present invention are herein' illustrated and described with reference to the acatent companying drawing illustrating a yarn twister made in accordance with the present invention wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation, with portions broken away, illustrating a twisting machine made in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view in perspective of the fiyer assembly of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 and illustrating the mode of operation thereof; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse sectional view through the compressor or forming die of the twister and the upper portion of the flyer assembly, as indicated by the line 4--4 in Fig. 1.

Referring now to the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the twister comprises a frame 11 which rotatably mounts in bearings 12, 12 a take-up spindle 13. The spindle 13 mounts a take-up spool 14 in a standard manner by means of a bobbin plate. A ring case 16 is mounted on a bracket 17 for vertical reciprocation relative to the frame on slide rods 18, 18. A guide eye 19 is mounted on a frame in vertical registry with the take-up spindle 13 to center the yarn prior to its passage through the traveler 20 which is rotatable about the ring case 16. The yarn is advanced to the yarn guide 19 from a creel or other yarn supply (not shown), through a thread plate 22, through the compressor or forming die 23 and thence through a false-twist device of flyer assembly 24 to the yarn guide 19.

In the present embodiment of the invention a single drive means drives the take-up spindle, the ring bracket, and the flyer assembly. Referring to'Fig. 1,- a drive motor is indicated at 26 which directly drives the spindle 13 through belts and pulleys as indicated at 27. A drive gear 28 is mounted on the spindle to mesh with a driven gear 29 mounted on a shaft 30 extending upwardly parallel to the guide rod 18. The shaft 30 is journalled for rotation in the frame as indicated at 32 and 33 and mounts at its lower extremity a cone pulley 34 which drives an auxiliary cone pulley 35 mounted on stub shaft 36. The stub shaft 36 is provided with a gear 37 which drives a gear 38 rotatably mounted on the shaft 30 through driving connections indicated generally at 39. A screw shaft 41 is rotatably mounted on the shaft 30 in engagement with the gear 38 to be driven through the connection described above by rotation of the spindle 13. A nut 42 is threaded on the screw 41 and mounts the ring .bracket 17, so that as the screw 41 is rotated unidirectionally by the take-up spindle 13, -the ring bracket is reciprocated between upper and lower limit positions, respectively in alignment with the top and bottom of the spool 14, so that a level wind is provided by the ring take-up. The rotation of the shaft 30 also drives the flyer assembly 24, as more fully set forth hereinafter, through a gear 43 mounted at the upper extremity of the shaft 30.

In accordance with the present invention a false-twist device embodying a positive drive for the strand is provided in advance of the traveler. In the present instance, the device consists of the flyer assembly 24 disposed adjacent the yarn guide 19 to feed the strand material through the guide 19, and to impart the necessary tension to the strand material as it passes through the compressor or forming die 23 for tight tubing of the material and for inserting any desired stretch therein. The flyer assembly 24 comprises a flyer head 46 journalled in the frame 11 in bearings 47, and a drive capstan 48 mounted on the lower end of a tubular shaft or capstan tubular socket 49 rotatable in the flyer head 46. A flyer head drive gear 51 is mounted on the flyer head 46 in engagement with the drive gear 43, and a capstan drive gear 52 is mounted on the upper end of the capstan socket 4-9 and is also in engagement with the drive gear 43. A differential in rotary speed between the capstan and the flyer head is provided by forming the gears 51 and 52 with a different number of teeth. The rotation of the fiyer head 46 determines the twist inserted in the strand at the compressor or the forming die 23, and the rotation of the drive capstan 48 determines the rate of advance of the strand through the die 23 and to the traveler 20.

The fiyer head comprises a slotted cross-bar 55 rotatably mounting a twisting pulley 56 in the slot thereof. Idler capstans 57, 57 are similarly rotatably mounted in the fiyer head 46 parallel to the drive capstan 4?. A yarn guide pulley is provided at 58.

In the operation of the fiyer assembly 24 as shown in the drawing, the yarn or other strand S is threaded through the bore 59 of the capstan around the twisting pulley 56 and is trained about the idler capstan 57 and drive capstan 48 a sufiicient number of times, in the pres ent instance three, to insure driving engagement of the capstan 48 with the strand S. The strand is then trained over the guide pulley 58 and back over twister pulley 56 and passed down to the yarn guide 19.

The counterclockwise rotation of the twister pulley 56 mounted on the counterclockwise-rotating fiyer head 46 acts similarly to a false-twist spindle to insert Z-twist in the strand S as the strand leaves the forming die 23. By reason of the positive drive of the strand by the drive capstan 48, the tension in the individual strands or filaments F may be regulated to provide the desired tension in the composite strand S to accomplish the desired forming and stretching of the strand. In the absence of additional twisting mechanism, the Z-twisted strand S leaving the twisting pulley 56 would be untwisted or S-twisted in an amount corresponding to the twist inserted in advance of the pulley 56. However the counterclockwise operation of the ring take-up imparts a Z-twist to the strand as it leaves the pulley 56 which. may overcome the tendency of the strand to untwist. If the ring take-up imparts a Z-twist equal to a twist imparted by the Z-twist pulley 56, the finished strand has the Z-twist formed by the fiyer head at the forming die 23. On the other hand, if the ring take-up imparts less Z-twist than the twist of the Z- twist pulley 56, the finished strand has back turn, whereas if the ring take-up imparts greater Z-twist than that imparted by the pulley 56, the finished strand has fore turn. Thus, by regulating the Z-twist imparted by the fiyer pulley 56 relative to the Z-twist imparted by the ring take-up, it is possible to make either a hard or a soft-finished product in accordance with the desired end use. In any event, the fiyer pulley should insert a twist in the same direction, and approximately the same number of turns as the twist produced by the ring take-up. In this respect, it is noted that the cross-hatching of the yarn in Figs. 3 and 4 is not intended to illustrate the actual twist in the yarn, either in magnitude or direction.

The use of the fiyer assembly provides a wide range of results which cannot be produced by a standard ring twister due to the limitations of the traveler operation. While the illustrated embodiment of the present invention is preferred for processing yarn and the like, it is understood that for certain installations, other mechanical combinations may be employed to produce the desired results. In illustrated embodiment, for example, the traveler may be replaced by a rotating pulley guide which makes it possible to twist paper and wire on the apparatus. Of course, other drive means than those illustrated may be employed if desired.

While a particular embodiment has been herein illustrated and described, it is not intended to limit the invention to such disclosure but changes and modifications may be made therein and thereto within the scope of the following claims.

ll claim:

1. For a ring twister operable to produce a given twist in a strand and having a vertically disposed take-up spindle, a vertically reciprocable ring surrounding said spindle, a traveler on said ring, and means to supply a plurality of strands to said traveler; a compressor intermediate said supply and said traveler to receive said plurality of strands and compact the same into a single strand; a false twist device intermediate said compressor and said traveler, said device including positive stranddrive means for the compacted strand comprising a driven capstan having a plurality of circumferential grooves of generally semicircular form and an idler capstan spaced from said drive capstan having grooves of semicircular form, said grooves adapted to receive the twisted strand and positively advance the same, and means to twist the strand between said compressor and said positive drive means to thereby form a twisted strand at said compressor; and drive means for said false twist device to rotate the same at a speed and direction to twist the strand at said compressor in the same direction and approximately the same number of turns as the given twist produced by said ring twister.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said falsetwist drive means rotates the false-twist device to twist the strand less turns than said given twist to provide back twist in the finished strand.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said falsetwist drive means rotates the false twist device to twist the strand more turns than said given twist to provide fore twist in the finished strand.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said falsetwist drive means rotates the false twist device to twist the strand exactly the same number of turns as said given twist.

5. A fiyer assembly for a ring twister comprising a fiyer head, means to rotate said fiyer head about its axis, a drive capstan having a central bore, an elongated rotary hollow socket mounting said capstan coaxially within said head and having its bore aligned with the bore of said capstan, means to rotate said socket and capstan, a twisting pulley mounted in said head tangentially in spaced alignment with the bores of said socket and capstan to receive the strand passing through said bores, and guide means to direct the strand from said twisting pulley around said capstan to be advanced thereby and back over said twisting pulley whereby said strand passes from said assembly in alignment with said bores.

6. A fiyer assembly according to claim 5 wherein said fiyer-head rotating means comprises a first gear mounted coaxially on said head and rotatable therewith about the axis thereof, and said socket rotating means comprises a second gear mounted coaxially on said socket adjacent to said first gear and rotatable therewith about its axis.

7. A fiyer assembly according to claim 6 wherein said first and second gears have equal diameters and including a common drive gear in meshing engagement with both of said first and second gears.

8. For a ring twister operable to produce a given twist in a strand and having a vertically disposed take-up spindle, a vertically reciprocable ring surrounding said spindle, a traveler on said ring, and means to supply a plurality of strands to said traveler; a compressor intermediate said supply and said traveler to receive said plurality of strands and compact the same into a single strand; a flyer assembly intermediate said compressor and said traveler, said fiyer assembly comprising a fiyer head, means to rotate said fiyer head about its axis, a drive capstan for the compacted strand, an elongated rotary hollow socket mounting said capstan coaxially within said head, means to rotate said socket and capstan, a twisting pulley mounted in said head tangentially in spaced alignment with the bore of said socket to receive the strand passing from said compressor through the bore of said socket, and guide means to direct the yarn References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Reinicke Sept. 2, 1952 Dewhirst Apr. 16, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS Australia May 9, 1957 France Aug. 3, 1955 

